We won’t say that Katharina Fritsch’s monumental Blue Cock …er, Rooster – selected for the fourth plinth, in Trafalgar Square, (next to the bronze statue commemorating Nelson’s victory over the French) is outrageously insolent, nor is it a galling effrontery, … but it does come close. We’re fascinated with the enduring power of the Statue in the Piazza to shock and provoke – see the header at top – and this one certainly does that with more than a peck of humor.

The Guardian’s Laura Barnett interviews the German artist and examines the double entendres, the controversial puns and the actual impact of the artist’s self-styled feminist sendup of “male posing, … power… erections!”

Fritsch’s Blue Cockerel stomps through the British square, and European history, like a plucky miniature blue Godzilla, crashing metaphors, crushing egos, and generally waving its crest at refined sensibilities. The statue, which was unveiled this week, does have its share of supporters and – as has been traditionally for sculptural works in the Fourth Plinth Programme – many vocal detractors. We’ll recycle one of Laura Barnett’s puns: feathers have been ruffled.

Read Laura Barnett’s insightful, and funny, interview with Katharina Fritsch – and read about the artist’s previous work – on the Guardian site, linked here.
For more information about past Fourth Plinth works, read The Guardian’s coverage, linked here.